As host, India invites SCO member countries for virtual summit on Nov 30

India has invited all eight member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to a virtual summit of the bloc which it is hosting on November 30, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

For the first time, India is hosting the summit of the council of heads of government of the SCO.

India and Pakistan became permanent members of the SCO in 2017. The other member nations of the SCO are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

"The country hosting the SCO summit invites all SCO member states to attend the meeting. We have accordingly informed all eight SCO member states, the four observer states, the SCO Secretary general and the director of SCO RATS," Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said.

He was replying to a question on the issue.

India had earlier this month announced that it will host the summit of the council of heads of government of the SCO in the virtual format and that it will be participated by prime ministers of the member countries of the bloc.

The SCO summit of the Council of Heads of State is considered as the main annual event. It was hosted by Russia on November 10 in the virtual format.

Seen as a counterweight to NATO, the SCO has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations. The aim of the SCO is to maintain peace, stability and security of the region.